


Hair Trigger

by tfa2141



Series: Family Matters [1]
Category: Lucifer (TV)
Genre: F/M, sort of a case fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-09
Updated: 2016-08-14
Packaged: 2018-08-07 15:14:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 4,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7719688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tfa2141/pseuds/tfa2141
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Our favorite devil and detective find themselves serving as pieces in a bomber's dangerous game. </p><p>Takes place immediately following season 1.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> It's been quite a while since my last fic and for that I apologize! With Season 2 drawing nearer I was hesitant to write something more extended since likely it will all be shattered with the new canon material but this one wouldn't get out of my head until it was on a page properly.
> 
> This is essentially a prequel to the larger fic I've written, but that one won't be posted until after it's completely finished and as of right now that's still a work in progress.
> 
> (All characters are property of their respective creators, except those that I've come up with myself.)

Police sirens began to wail outside, their harsh tones echoing throughout the now quiet hangar - the very same one that had minutes earlier very nearly borne witness to the murders of a seasoned detective, her young daughter, and a civilian consultant for the LAPD.

Chloe Decker stood, with Trixie fast asleep - safe, finally - in her arms, and began to wonder _how in the hell_ (pun completely intended, she decided) she was going to explain what had just happened.

Lucifer was alive, despite her having watched him die right before her eyes, bearing an obscene amount of blood on his shirt to show for it - clearly his, but with no obvious wound to have caused it.

There was one hundred thousand dollars in cash that had been stolen from evidence in the trunk of her police issued vehicle.

Her daughter had been kidnapped, held for ransom, and she had gone alone to diffuse the situation despite it being a textbook and very major conflict of interest.

And her ex-husband was now more than likely due to serve jail time after aiding and abetting in multiple murders the man who had just tried to kill them.

Chloe leaned against the cruiser with a sigh as responding officers began to pile out of their squad cars and onto the scene. She had a lot of explaining to do.

 

**-THREE WEEKS LATER-**

 

The detective was a perpetual early riser.

Her years working for the police department had offered her long hours with little sleep and in return she’d gained a persistent 6am alarm clock - either when her body decided that it was time to get up, or perhaps more irritatingly, when the sun blasted through her blinds in the morning.

Needless to say, her two-week ordered leave had been brutal. She hardly slept at night now, thanks to the nightmares that she swore she wouldn't tell anyone about, and rose early in the morning to complete the vicious cycle. She knew she shouldn't have been complaining - the time she got to spend with Trixie was few and far between when she was working - but nearly every part of her _needed_ something to do.

When she got the okay to return to duty, she was relieved in every sense of the word.

This morning, her wake-up call came late - a rare occurrence and almost annoyingly appropriate, as she’d just gotten a break in a rather high-profile and dangerous case she’d been working on. When she woke up, she’d been greeted by an address for a second incident, and intended to get there before any other units arrived to muck up the scene - if she could get her own day moving fast enough. She stuffed her cell phone between her shoulder and ear as she poured the last of the pot of coffee into her mug.

The voice on the other end belonged to her partner - decidedly _not_ a morning person.

 

“Not that I dislike hearing your voice in the morning, but do you bloody know what time it is?!”

If he’d been paying attention, he likely could have heard her eyes roll through the phone. “I do own a clock, Lucifer, yes. How fast can you meet me at the scene?”

“I’m not a piece of toast, Detective. I don’t just pop out of bed in the morning all ready to go, and I do in fact try to maintain a well-kept appearance when in public.”

That almost earned a smile out of her. “Look, just try and hurry up, bread man. I’ll send you the address.”

“I will certainly try my hardest. Wouldn’t want to put you in a _jam_ , so to speak.”

 

He waited for her laughter but instead found himself on the receiving end of a dead line as she hung up. Leaning his head back against the pillows of his bed, he gave an exasperated huff. “Bloody hell, it wasn’t that bad of a pun.”


	2. Chapter 2

Approximately half an hour later, the familiar black Corvette pulled up outside the scene. Chloe checked her watch and guessed that he probably was going well over the speed limit in order to make it there in that amount of time - the suit he was wearing looked freshly pressed and from her own experience, ironing was not a fast activity.

Lucifer spent a moment sweet-talking the female officer watching the perimeter, earning himself an exasperated sigh from Chloe as he ducked under the yellow tape.

“Jealous, Detective?”

“Not in the slightest,” she remarked, refusing to acknowledge the self-satisfied grin she knew he wore.

“Someone's touchy this morning. Do we have a particularly foul bad guy on our hands?”

Chloe gestured to the side of what had previously been a very well-furnished suburban townhouse whose structural frame had now largely been reduced to a mass of charred wood splinters. “I guess you could say that.”

Lying near what used to be the garage was the victim, a 56-year old professor at a nearby community college and happily married father of two. His limbs were tangled impossibly around him and he had suffered major internal and external injuries from wood shrapnel, inflicted by what more than likely was an improvised explosive device.

“This is the second homicide case this month that’s involved a high-profile explosive. Both have occurred in roughly the same 10-mile span close to the edge of our boundaries here. Someone clearly knows the LAPD’s operating range and they’re getting very close to it.”

Lucifer peered at the man for a moment and then stepped back, taking the opportunity to pace around the garage to survey it from all angles. “It seems the poor chap failed the wrong student here.”

Chloe shook her head in annoyance. “Seriously, Lucifer? This man’s dead and you’re going to crack jokes about him?”

“It’s not like he’s here to complain,” he protested. “Lighten up, Detective! You really do take yourself too seriously,” he muttered.

The detective sighed. “Any way you look at this, it’s illegal to put an explosive in someone’s garage to try and kill them or otherwise seriously injure them. If someone dies, it’s manslaughter at least, and usually first degree murder.”

Lucifer looked confused for a moment. “But purely illegal activities shouldn’t warrant the involvement of a homicide detective though, should it? They have a bomb squad for this sort of thing! I mean, that’s not really your job-”

She turned to face him, her face the picture of frustration and impatience, and threw a pointed finger in his face. “It’s still my job if a person _kills_ someone else, whether the method used is illegal or not, Lucifer.” She turned on her heels and began to walk away from him, not having to look to know that he would be following like a lost puppy.

“Illegal doesn’t always mean wrong, Detective,” he stammered as he tried to catch up with her. “It used to be illegal to escort African-Americans _from_ slavery.”

“Okay, that’s enough of that.” She sighed and rubbed her temples with her hands, turning back to him once more. “Look, my job right now is to find out who killed this man because I’m very certain he didn’t do it to himself. Now are you going to help me or not?”

“Ooh, someone’s got a bit of a temper. I like it,” he grinned. “Where do we start?”

Chloe sighed and reached into the glove compartment of her car to retrieve a map. Flipping through it, she fanned a particular page out over the hood of the cruiser. “Okay, this is where the first incident occurred…”


	3. Chapter 3

Within a few days, they had gathered enough leads to go investigate the residence of their prime suspect at the edge of town. Chloe drove as Lucifer attempted to navigate, fumbling over the map she kept in her glove compartment.

She shook her head as he continued to rustle with it. “Have you ever used one of those before?”

“Of course! I’m just trying to get this in a comfortable reading position,” he retorted.

“By all means, take your time. It’s not like we’re trying to get there at a reasonable hour.”

He stopped rustling, the silence taking her by surprise as he turned his head to peer at her. “Says the one who drives like an elderly turtle.” With a sigh, he leaned back in the seat. “Left at the light.”

  


Much to their chagrin, the home of Scott Wesley was well-kept and tidy, a quiet home in an even quieter suburban neighborhood.

 

“Not exactly the type of home you would expect a dangerous and violent criminal to inhabit,” Lucifer mused as he stepped out of the car. “I would assume it’s not a great selling point for the neighborhood. Two bedrooms, three bathrooms, potential to explode at any given time?”

“Exactly,” the detective shot back. “So keep your eyes open and stay quiet.”

She knocked several times on the front door before opening it with a swift kick under the doorknob. Training her gun and a flashlight down the hallway, the pair quickly cleared the few rooms and moved into the kitchen. Lucifer paused in the living room, studying the paintings the owner had hung on the wall with an appreciative hum. “Not bad taste for an imminent threat to society.”

Chloe rustled around in the kitchen, opening and closing each drawer meticulously to look for any evidence. “Hey, why don’t you take a look in that shed outside while I finish up in here? We can cover more ground if we split up.”

Lucifer nodded and moved to the back door. Pushing it open, he immediately poked his head back into the house. “Bloody hell, it’s darker out here than the Eighth Circle.”

Chloe scoffed and shook her head. “As if you’d expect me to know what that means. But here, since you’re afraid of the dark all of a sudden.” She produced a flashlight from her belt, tossing it across the counter to him.

“I expected you to at least have read Dante,” he chuckled, catching the flashlight easily and switching it on. “It seems you've got some catching up to do.” He let his gaze linger on her even as she turned away and continued to sweep the inside of the small home.

Taking a step forward, he dropped off the porch and onto the soft dirt of the backyard. _Bloody hell,_ he mused. _These shoes were not made for gardening._ As he paced towards the shed, he suddenly felt a change in depth in the soil beneath his feet, his heart immediately sinking to his stomach when he heard a faint click. Looking down, he saw he’d stepped on a circular device buried just under the surface of the ground.

Tracing the shape with his eyes, he saw a flashing red indicator on the surface and realized the immediate danger he was in.

“Detective?”

Chloe poked her head around the corner as Lucifer shined the flashlight down at his feet, and glanced for a moment at the disc-like shape poking out of the dirt next to his left shoe. It took her only another moment to see the blinking red light coming from the surface of the soil.

 

He was inches away from triggering a land mine.


	4. Chapter 4

Chloe fished into her pocket and found her cell phone, unlocking it with a shaky hand and dialing dispatch. Before she could stop herself, she was walking out onto the porch.

“Stay there,” Lucifer cautioned. “We can't be sure how many more are out here.”

It seemed to startle her out of her thoughts and she quickly retreated inside, suddenly aware of the danger around them. “I need EOD on the scene as soon as possible,” she managed, rattling off the address.

In the backyard, Lucifer held his breath as he tried not to shift his weight on top of the mine. “If I was the type to pray, this would be the time,” he muttered. Looking around, he found nothing he could brace his weight on and began to realize the gravity of the situation. Heart pounding in his ears, he took a deep breath to steady his nerves and tried to hold still.

Within ten minutes, the bomb crew was on the scene and found themselves in the middle of one of the most dangerous disposal operations they could remember. The lead operator found Chloe in the house, leaning on the kitchen counter with her head in her hands. “Excuse me, Detective,” he interjected. “I’m Sergeant Taylor. We’re here to take care of the situation and I assure you everything will be all right. But I need you to show me where the problem is.”

Chloe nodded and led him towards the back door, where he could see very clearly into the yard. “My partner stepped on some kind of explosive. It didn’t go off but it’s right under his foot and I’m not sure how much longer he can stay still like this,” she managed.

“Is there anyone else in the house or the immediate vicinity?”

She shook her head. “A few officers showed up to clear the neighbors, but it was just the two of us that came to investigate the scene.”

“Okay, Detective. I need you to stay here for now until we can make sure the scene is safe,” the sergeant offered. He carefully swung open the porch door to reveal a very nervous-looking Lucifer in the yard. “About bloody time you all showed up,” he shouted.

The remaining bomb squad techs followed into the yard and began to survey the area. “We’re going to do everything we can to get you out of here safely, okay? But I need you to try to stay as still as possible while we work our way over to you.”

He gave a small nod as the technicians began to carefully search and flag the area surrounding the porch, and hoped to his Father he could hold still long enough for them to fix the mess he’d gotten himself into.

 _Not with her here,_ he begged. _Don’t let her see me go out like this_.

  


It seemed like it had been an eternity when the bomb techs finally cleared a path around Lucifer - and he would know, he mused. They continued to sweep the area around his feet and poked and prodded at the dirt, checking every inch at a time.

Inside the house, Chloe was growing impatient. She stepped out onto the porch, desperate for any information the sergeant could provide. “How long will he have to be here?”

“Until we can safely remove the explosive. And until then, you need to be out of the blast radius, Detective,” he responded, gently trying to guide her into the house.

“I’m not leaving him,” she protested, pushing him off. “He’s my partner, damn it! Just help him!”

Lucifer watched her struggle with him for a few moments, feeling warmth creep into his heart at the sight of her fighting to stay. When he spoke, it was so quiet she almost didn’t hear him. “You have to go, Detective,” he offered.

She stopped fighting briefly and turned to look at him, not fully understanding what he’d just said. “Lucifer, I won’t leave you.”

He offered a half-smile, mouth just barely turning up at the corners. “I can’t have you in danger. You have a family, a home to go to and people who care about you. There’s no need to put yourself in harm’s way for me.”

“And you don’t?”

His eyes flickered with some emotion she couldn’t name - sadness, maybe? Longing? Fear?

“You’ve put yourself in danger to protect me on several occasions, and you’re just going to turn around and make some bullshit excuse to try and get me to leave? It goes both ways, Lucifer. I’m not leaving.”

“Let me protect you one more time, Chloe. Please, get yourself to safety. There’s no need for Trixie to lose her mother tonight.”

The detective’s heart sank - he was right, she acknowledged painfully. With a quiet nod, she let herself be led away from him and back into the house.


	5. Chapter 5

When the sergeant entered the home again, Chloe could tell by the look on his face that the operation wasn’t going as smoothly as they’d all hoped.

“We can't defuse the device,” he informed her. “The weight placed on the pressure trigger by Mr. Morningstar initiated the detonation sequence but failed to be enough to ignite the powder charge inside the explosive. If we were to try and remove the device now, there would be a 100% chance of detonation.”

Her heart sank.

_This can’t be happening._

 

She swallowed, hoping the sudden dryness in her mouth wouldn’t prevent her from speaking. “Is there anything you can do?”

Sergeant Taylor frowned. “We do have one option, but you're not going to like it.”

Chloe stared at him dimly, unable to fathom what could possibly be worse than having the bomb go off from under Lucifer.

“We can pull him off of the device while two technicians place a blast hood over it. The hoods are reinforced and very strong and if we time it correctly, it should absorb all of the impact generated by the device and cause no harm to anyone involved.”

“And if you do it wrong?”

He shook his head sadly. “I think you can figure that part out, Detective. But we have no other real option.”

He fished in his pocket and handed her a black walkie-talkie. “I’ll get him to call down to you before we start.”

She was surprised to find that her hands were shaking when she took the radio from him.

  


Minutes later, she was situated in the makeshift nerve center they’d set up in the kitchen, gaze fixed firmly on the monitor displaying the video feed from outside.

“Okay, we’re ready to start. All nonessential personnel need to stand clear of the blast radius,” the sergeant ordered. Flipping the visor on his helmet down, he rolled his neck and took a deep breath before stepping out into the flagged dirt pathway to hand a radio to Lucifer.

“Channel three,” he offered.

He nodded and flipped the switch, hearing the static fade as the signal cleared. “I suppose this is it then, Detective. I always thought I would go out in more of a blaze of glory, as it were.”

“You’re not going anywhere,” she managed, trying to keep her voice steady. “I’m going to see you right here in less than a minute, and we’re going to go find who did this so we can punish them together.”

He laughed, the sound distorted through the radio static, but Chloe found herself relaxing as the tension dissipated for a moment.

“I’m all for the punishment. But if I don’t make it out of here- “

“That’s not an option,” she interrupted. “I’ll see you soon, okay?”

He paused for a moment, trying to remember the sound of her voice as she spoke to him. “Okay.”

Lucifer switched the radio off and handed it back to one of the operators with a nod. “Let’s make quick work of this, then.”

  


The sergeant checked his watch, carefully timing the small hand indicating the seconds as the rest of the team stood with bated breath. He gave a sharp nod, and the technicians carefully situated the blast hood between Lucifer’s foot and the explosive so that the majority of the device was covered.

Lucifer drew a sharp breath and closed his eyes as the officer began to count down.

“On my command, after the count of one. 5, 4...”

Inside the house, Chloe felt her lungs burn as she tried to remember how to breathe.

“3. 2. 1.”


	6. Chapter 6

The explosion sent a charge of dust and dirt into the air, obscuring Chloe’s view of her partner through the monitors as he was simultaneously yanked away from the mine.

As the dirt cleared, she realized that she was running - out of the house, of her own accord, afraid of what she might find and at the same time desperately needing to make sure that she hadn't lost him. By some small miracle, she managed to stay within the flagged path that had been cleared earlier.

Just behind the blast area lay her partner and the two other men from the bomb squad, dirty and tired, ears ringing and the air filled with the smell of fresh soil - but she realized _he was okay, everything was okay_ and before she knew it she found herself in his arms.

They shared a few quiet moments, a yet unspoken sentiment between them growing. Lucifer felt as though his heart might burst out of his chest, full with a yet unfamiliar emotion and he inhaled sharply to try and release some of the pressure.

“I hope this isn't against your rules,” he whispered.

“Me too. Because I'm not letting you go just yet.”

He sighed softly and pulled her closer to him, holding on as if she was the very air he needed to breathe. “It’s okay. I’m fine, you’re fine, we’re all okay,” he offered gently.

 

“It’s going to be all right. I promise.”

  


The clock on the wall of the precinct ticked away as the night dragged on, the dull clicks incessantly reminding the detective and her partner how late of a night this was turning out to be.

After paramedics had checked Lucifer for any injuries and given the all clear, it was necessary for the pair to file a report at the station since he as a civilian consultant had been “placed in harm’s way in the line of duty” - _it makes it sound like I was a war hero,_ he laughed. _The line of duty._

When her hand settled on his under the desk, absentmindedly tracing circles on his palm, he pretended that it didn’t stir a warmth inside him he’d long missed.

 

The questioning seemed endless, but finally they were released to go home and end what had been one of the longest days Chloe could remember.

She drove home, the steady amber glow of the streetlights and the stoplights’ red and green pulses guiding her along the familiar roads. Few words were spoken between them, but stolen glances confirmed that they were both close to giving in to the day’s exhaustion.

They pulled into her driveway shortly after two in the morning and Chloe switched the engine off, stepping out into the crisp night air. Lucifer eased out of the car opposite her and let her lead the way into her house.

He gathered his keys from the kitchen counter and started back towards the front door, offering a quiet bid good night to the detective.

Before he could place his hand on the doorknob, he was gently held back by one of hers on his wrist. “Stay?”

 

It was a question they both knew the answer to, but after the day’s events Chloe found herself without the strength to deny the practice of asking. The soft light of the living room allowed her to see a flicker of something darker within his eyes for a moment - and then it was gone, replaced again by a warm brown she knew so well. “I've worried enough about you for one night to have you drive home like this.”

“You know I can't.” He turned his hand so that it now held hers comfortably, and laced their fingers together, finding the warmth spreading through his heart again at the way that the motion felt absolutely natural.

“I want to,” he swallowed, taking a step closer to narrow the gap between them. “But I don't know what will happen if I do.”

She nodded and reached up to cup the side of his face as he leaned in to her touch. “For once, would that be a bad thing?”

He forced a smile, one that didn’t quite reach his eyes, and despite the protests of his heart pulled away before he inevitably overstepped his boundaries with her. “Good night, Detective,” he whispered.

“Good night, Lucifer.”

It was little more than a breath, but there was a loneliness behind her words that was sobering. He found himself cursing his inaction as he slid into the front of the Corvette, discovering quickly that the black cushioned leather seat he adored was incomparable to the embrace of Chloe’s arms.

 

 _If my Father could see me now,_ he laughed as he eased the car into the night. _It’s dangerous for the Devil to care._

  
  
  


From a rooftop far above the streets of Los Angeles, Lucifer’s mother crossed her arms and sighed, basking in the cool of the night air. As a cloud of thin white smoke began to encircle her, she tapped away the ash gathering at the end of her cigarette and watched the breeze take it into the streets below.

 

_How good it is to be free._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this!
> 
> It's essentially a prequel to set up a longer fic I have in the works currently, so stay tuned for that!  
> I love reading all of your comments, it really keeps me going. 
> 
> Until season 2!


End file.
